Thought for the Month
Join me each month as I ponder life with all the highs and lows we encounter along the way.
I hope you enjoy my blog whose aim is to raise a smile as well as give food for thought.
As always, I would love to hear from you, so please contact me 01278 781147 c.judson@btinternet.com
God bless you.
Rev Chris
September 2024 ‘The change in us all’
I can hardly believe that my God daughter’s son is starting college this September. Do you ever feel as if time has flown by in the blink of an eye? It seems like only yesterday that he was starting school, and yet here he is on the brink of an exciting career, stepping out as a young adult – and I confess that I am very proud of the person he is becoming.
For many people, young and not-so-young, September is a month of new starts. There’s an air of freshness as schools start back after the summer holiday and many new leaves are turned over! Long after school and college days, that sense of new beginnings remains for many of us and I believe it is something to be cherished. Even when our own situations may look as though they have remained the same from year to year, there is still the sense that we have changed, through all that we have experienced over the past year, which gives us the opportunity to see things differently.
I wonder what helps you to see things differently? We are all changing – many of us are aware of becoming more creaky each year, but that’s not really what I mean. Being open to different ways of seeing things involves letting go of old ways, and being prepared to be surprised.
I remember the first time I discovered a snake skin that had been left behind by a renewed snake. What an incredible change! It’s a bit like the way a butterfly leaves the cocoon that was formed by the caterpillar – a necessary act if it is to be able to fly. Sometimes we too need to let go of old ways of seeing in order to see things differently.
At a recent home visit a young Dad challenged me to watch The Chosen – a relatively new box-set drama about Jesus. I love a challenge, am already on Series 2 and thus far can commend it to you! One of the phrases that keeps cropping up as the Pharisees, disciples and authorities all struggle to understand what is going on is ‘get used to different’. If we are to grow in our understanding, then we too have to be prepared to adjust our thinking….and ‘get used to different’.
One of the early Larry Norman songs tackles a change in the way he sees things: ‘I don’t believe in miracles, I know what’s real, I don’t pretend. I don’t believe in miracles or stories with a happy end – life is no one’s friend. But when we met – I felt so free, and suddenly I felt a change come over me. Do you suppose a miracle is happening to me?’
As we step into September this year, let’s be open to the surprises it has in store, with the chance to see things differently and encounter the many miracles all around us!
God bless you,
Rev Chris
August 2024 ‘Some Thoughts’
I wonder what August means to you? Long, hot, sunny days….with the chance of a trip away? Time with family and friends? Or maybe haymaking and harvesting? For some it is a quiet time, for others it is busier than ever! When I was a teacher, as we approached the summer holidays, there was a sense of ‘handing over’ the day-time care of our youngsters to their families, with the promise of a well-earned rest. When I think back to my own childhood I remember the freedom that my friends and I had, the chance to get up to all sorts of adventures and to delight in the lack of routine.
In 8 BC, this month was renamed (from a Latin name, Sextilius, which simply meant ‘6th month’ – as that is what it was at the time) in honour of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar. Apparently, he commandeered this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. During August, the church calendar reminds us of some amazing characters who have gone before us including Mary Sumner, Wiliam and Catherine Booth, John Bunyan, Florence Nightingale, Maximilian Kolbe, Octavia Hill and, of course, St Augustine – all well worth a look-up if you have time. If gardening is your passion then August’s flower is the gladiolus or poppy, with its meaning of beauty, strength of character, love, marriage and family.
These days, for me, August is often a month of weddings (which we are delighted to celebrate!), time spent with people at all sorts of events (fayres, cream teas, car shows and festivals) and maybe even a spot of catching my breath…
Whatever your August holds this year, may it bring with it an awareness of the love that surrounds you, the many blessings that are in your life and a chance for true re-creation.
Oh, and don’t forget to celebrate Melon Day! (a national celebration in Turkmenistan on 11th August)
God bless you,
Rev Chris